Washing-machine



NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.v

GEORGE W. PHENIX, OF NEWT BRUNSWICK, NEV JERSEY.

WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Fatent No. 27,380, dated March 6, 1.860.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. PHENIX, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, have invented anew and Improved VVashing-Machine; and I do hereby declare that the fol lowing is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the model and accompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in providing inclined planes at top and bottom for the rollers attached by a ledge to the outside washboards, to rest and travel upon. Said rollers travel up the inclined planes, when forced apart by the clothes, arranged in the usual way in the center washboard and dasher, and come together again by the gravity of their own weight and the force of the springs in their travel down the planes, whereby a yielding pressure is produced as the clothes are passed up and down between the washboards, and also in the arrangement of foot treadles by which the person operating the machine can with the foot part the outer washboards for the convenience of putting in the center dasher and clothes, having the free use of both hands for that purpose, which has been a great diiiiculty with that kind of washing machine heretofore.

In the drawings, a a represent the body of the machine, which may be made of boards 1linches thick, and about two feet long, two feet deep, and from fourteen to sixteen inches wide.

B represents a lever which has a bearing at C on a piece of timber attached to the body of the machine, and operating the center washboard D, D, at E and its line of travel in the range of F, F, and which is graduated and controlled in part by the spiral spring Gr.

The red lines at H represent the center dasher when ready to receive the clothes.

At I, I, I, I will be found the inclined planes upon which the rollers K, K, K, K travel when forced apart by the clothes.

We make our rollers of heavy wood some two and one-half to three inches in diameter, into which we introduce from one to three pounds of lead to each roller to add weight and thereby increase the friction.

At L, L, L, L will be found four lugs, one attached to the back of each outside washboard, and one to each side of the body of the machine, to which is attached the spiral springs n, a, to give additional fric tion to the washboards when forced apart by the clothes, and a. more speedy return, but to weight the rollers without the springs seems to give the best satisfaction and less liable to get out of order.

At w, w is shown a ledge fastened edgewise on the back of the outside washboards, forming the bearings for the friction rollers to revolve in.

At M, M are two levers or foot treadles to which are attached cords, the upper ends of which cords pass each over a friction roller and through a small hole in the body of the machine near the top and attached to the back of each outside washboard. The treadles are so hung that when out of use their own weight throws them down in the center and loosens the cords, so as to not diminish the friction when the machine is being operated and yet so arranged that bythe application of the foot on the projecting end of the front treadle both cords are tightened at one and the same time and the outside washboards parted, giving a large space and the free use of both hands to handle the dasher and clothes.

IVe have introduced a small crank' so arranged as to make a neat handy wringer for reimving the suds, or water from the clothes with less labor and in half the time of the old usual hand mode of doing the same.

I claim- The inclined planes I I I I spiral springs a, a, with the rollers and washboards to produce friction in washing, and in combination with levers or treadles M M, as and for the purposes described.

G. W. PHENIX.

Witnesses:

JN0. M. CARR, EDWARD A. JENKS. 

